No filter needed

Sakal Times

Tuesday, 11 September 2018

These Bollywood actors said no to prosthetics and heavy make-up to play real life characters in upcoming biopic projects.

Bollywood off late got into the race of churning out period drama films and biopics. Prosthetics and heavy makeup are mandatory to look similar to the person an actor is playing while working on a story based on real people. Although the art of make-up has evolved with technology and tools to enhance the look of actors and give a more realistic edge to a biopic, there are a few who prefer to go the natural way— not using prosthetics or elaborate make-up to pass off as the real-life character they are playing. Here are five actors who stuck to the use of bare minimum make-up and still nailed the look for the real characters they portray on screen.

Hrithik Roshan - Super 30

Bollywood’s most flexible star is all set to play the role of a mathematician. Vikas Bahl’s Super 30 is an upcoming biopic on the life of noted mathematician, Anand Kumar and his educational programme called Super 30. In order to play the protagonist, Hrithik preferred to go the no prosthetics way and the actor, whose Greek god looks are an international phenomenon, managed to transform into the small town genius with bare minimum make-up.

Ranveer Singh - Gully Boy

Zoya Akhtar’s much talked about Gully Boy is based on the lives of Vivian Fernandes, popularly known as Divine and Naved Shaikh, aka Naezy. It stars Ranveer Singh as the famous rapper, along with Alia Bhatt. Although Ranveer underwent a major transformation, shedding all the muscle from Padmaavat to get a lean frame like Divine, he chose to not get prosthetics to play the part.

Richa Chadha - Shakeela Khan

The Fukrey actress is all set to play the role of South India’s famous adult star, Shakeela. The biopic, directed by Indrajit Lankesh, will see Richa play the actress’ younger self, as the film focuses on the early life and the rise to stardom of the 90s icon. For her role, Richa also chose to stick to getting the look right with make up and the attire, using no prosthetics for the part.

Rasika Dugal - Manto

Rasika Dugal is all geared up for the release of Nandita Das’ biopic Manto which is based on the Indo-Pak poet, Saadat Hasan Manto. The film will see Rasika play Manto’s wife Safiya, while Nawazuddin Siddiqui will be seen in the titular role. Despite Manto being a period film, focusing on the years after partition, all the actors in the film have portrayed actual people without a hint of prosthetics. The leading lady herself has an uncanny resemblance to Safiya, according to Manto’s own daughters. She chose to use minimum make-up and authentic outfits to suit the era and transform into Manto’s wife.

Anupam Kher - The Accidental Prime Minister

The Accidental Prime Minister, which is based on the 2014 memoir by the same name, will see Anupam Kher playing the role of Manmohan Singh. Using authentic outfits and minimum make-up, the veteran actor has managed to look exactly as the economist, following the natural, no prosthetic way and adapting the mannerisms of the politician to execute the role perfectly. ST